2020 Yankees season preview: Title or bust

It's World Series or bust for the New York Yankees in the shortened campaign.

There's enormous pressure in the Bronx. It's been more than a decade since the franchise's last championship and ownership just committed a record $324 million to Gerrit Cole this offseason.

New York is coming off a staggering 103-win season despite countless injuries decimating almost the entire roster, and the club now heads into the new campaign mostly healthy. The Yankees boast a top-five offense, rotation, and bullpen, and manager Aaron Boone has developed into one of the best leaders in baseball. There's no reason to believe this club can't win it all, and if it starts slow, general manager Brian Cashman is no stranger to getting aggressive ahead of the trade deadline to bring in reinforcements.

2020 Breakdown

2019 record: 103-59 (1st in AL East)
Payroll: $258,061,667
Projected record: 37-23 (1st)
World Series odds: +350
3-year trend: 2017 (2nd); 2018 (2nd); 2019 (1st)
Key addition: Gerrit Cole
Key subtraction: Edwin Encarnacion
Highest projected WAR: Gerrit Cole (2.2)
X-factor: Gary Sanchez
Prospect to watch: Clarke Schmidt
Winter report card: A

Projected Lineup

Bench

The Yankees scored the most runs in the majors last season and hit more home runs than all but one team despite Judge, Sanchez, Hicks, Stanton, and Voit missing a combined 407 games. With the exception of LeMahieu, who missed the start of camp after testing positive for COVID-19, there are no serious injury concerns. There's power up and down the lineup and Andujar will return after recording 76 extra-base hits in 2018. The only weakness - if you're looking for one - is the lack of left-handed bats, though the team still destroyed right-handed pitching last season with almost the same cast.

Rotation

*Bold indicates player acquired during offseason

Cole's addition gives the Yankees arguably the best pitcher in the majors and helps mitigate Luis Severino's absence due to Tommy John surgery. Cole also takes some pressure off Paxton, Tanaka, and Happ, who are all better suited to pitch lower in the rotation. The Yankees don't need great pitching with their offense as dominant as it is, but this is one of the stronger rotations in the majors, and its depth should help come playoff time. Domingo German is expected to miss the season due to suspension, so Montgomery will slide into the No. 5 spot following his return from Tommy John surgery.

Bullpen

Star closer Aroldis Chapman is sidelined after testing positive for COVID-19, but no team is better equipped than the Yankees to endure such a significant loss in the bullpen. Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, and Green are all capable late-inning relievers, and each has at least some experience saving games. Though Ottavino struggles with his control at times, he's still an elite strikeout pitcher and stranded 87.8% of baserunners last year, the ninth-best mark in the majors. He also allowed just five home runs in 66 1/3 innings.

Key injuries/Absences

(Projected WAR/ERA source: FanGraphs)